Most Countries Have Made ‘Enormous Progress’ In Health, Development In Recent Decades

Nov 08, 2013

In a BBC News Magazine opinion piece, Hans Rosling, professor of global health at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and co-founder of Gapminder, highlights five facts that show “the enormous progress most countries have made in recent decades.” Rosling discusses the slowing of global population growth, says the divide between “developed” and “developing” countries has lessened, highlights the growing average life expectancy in the world, notes progress in the education of girls globally, and states that the “end of extreme poverty is in sight,” noting “the number of people in extreme poverty, according to the World Bank, has fallen from two billion in 1980 to just over one billion today” (11/6). Rosling on Thursday appeared on BBC Two’s “This World” program to discuss global population growth and extreme poverty, according to the program’s webpage (11/6).